The American driver climbed to the top step of the podium in the FIA Formula 3 Championship at the Albert Park Circuit. Ugochukwu delivered an intelligent and controlled race at the wheel of his Campos Racing car. Only a penalty prevented Naël from joining him on the podium, while Heuzenroeder completed a promising debut weekend with steadily improving performances
There could hardly have been a better way for Campos Racing to open its 2026 season and underline its ambitions to fight for the FIA Formula 3 title. That was exactly what Ugo Ugochukwu achieved in Melbourne. The American secured his first victory in the category, combining outright pace with intelligence and race management to triumph on the stage of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend. Théophile Naël, after taking pole position, also deserved much more, but fortune did not favour the Frenchman following a penalty. He will certainly have many more opportunities ahead. Patrick Heuzenroeder, making his debut in the championship and racing in front of his home crowd, showed clear improvement throughout the weekend.
Ugochukwu knew it was important to make a statement from the very beginning. In Friday morning’s free practice session, held early in the Australian schedule, he proved completely untouchable for the rest of the field. The American driver posted an impressive time of 1m34.607s, not only becoming the only driver to break the 1m35s barrier but also finishing more than four tenths ahead of his closest rival. Naël also started strongly, setting the fourth-fastest time with a lap of 1m35.070s. Heuzenroeder recorded a personal best of 1m37.046s.
Qualifying then took place around midday. Ugochukwu began exactly as he had ended the morning session, leading the times from his very first flying lap with a 1m34.208s that again put him four tenths clear of the field. The session was interrupted by an accident, but resumed with ten minutes remaining and Naël climbing to fourth place. Everything seemed to be going Ugochukwu’s way; in fact, he came close to improving his earlier benchmark. But it was Naël who produced a moment of brilliance. In the final moments of the session, the Frenchman delivered a stunning lap of 1m34.187s, beating his Campos Racing teammate by just 21 thousandths of a second and claiming the two bonus points for pole position. It also meant that the front row of the Sunday race would be locked out by Campos Racing. Heuzenroeder finished 23rd in his first qualifying session with a best lap of 1m35.156s.
Saturday featured the first race of the weekend, the sprint race, initially scheduled for twenty laps. In the reversed grid for the top twelve positions, Ugochukwu and Naël started from the delicate positions of eleventh and twelfth. As soon as the lights went out, Ugochukwu went on the attack against Freddie Slater, with all drivers gaining one place when Mattia Colnaghi ran wide. Ugochukwu gained another position on lap five when he overtook Nicola Lacorte. By lap seven, Ugochukwu had climbed to ninth place, while Naël remained twelfth and Heuzenroeder was running 24th. Disaster struck on lap nine. Just ahead of Ugochukwu, Louis Sharp and James Wharton collided and crashed into the wall. Ugochukwu managed to avoid the accident by the narrowest of margins. However, due to the damage to the barriers at Turn 4, race control displayed the red flag and the race was not restarted. As the classification reverted to the lap prior to the red flag, Ugochukwu was classified ninth, Naël eleventh—having overtaken Lacorte shortly before—and Heuzenroeder twenty-third. Since less than half the race distance had been completed, points were awarded only to the top five finishers.
Sunday offered the chance for redemption. When the lights went out, Naël made the most of his pole position and controlled the opening corners in the lead. Ugochukwu, meanwhile, was briefly caught out by Slater and dropped to third place, though with 23 laps still remaining. Heuzenroeder had meanwhile moved into the top twenty. Ugochukwu did not delay his response for long. On lap two he launched his attack, overtaking Slater at Turn 9 to reclaim second place. Just two laps later, he was already tucked under the rear wing of Naël’s car. Shortly afterwards, once again at Turn 9, Ugochukwu overtook his French teammate to become the new race leader. When Ugochukwu held a one-second advantage over Naël, who in turn had nearly two seconds over Slater, all those gaps were wiped out when the safety car was deployed on lap eight after a car became stranded in the gravel. Racing resumed three laps later, with Ugochukwu masterfully controlling the restart ahead of Naël. The gaps quickly opened again. By lap 16, Ugochukwu led by two seconds over Naël, who in turn held nearly four seconds over the third-place driver. Unfortunately, race control then issued a five-second penalty to Naël for a jump start. The news came as a heavy blow, especially when the safety car appeared again with three laps remaining, erasing his carefully built margin. The race finished under those conditions, with Ugochukwu securing a well-deserved reward after a superb performance. Naël dropped from the podium to twelfth place following his penalty, while Heuzenroeder improved on his Saturday showing to finish seventeenth.
After the opening two races of the season, Ugochukwu leads the drivers’ standings with 25 points, seven clear of his nearest rival. In the teams’ classification, Campos Racing leaves Australia in second place with 27 points, just three shy of the lead.
The next round of the championship will take place in Sakhir at the Bahrain International Circuit on the weekend of 11–12 April.
